Holder for milk cartons



Jan. 10, 1956 R. AJSHERLOWSKY 2,730,278

HOLDER FOR MILK CARTONS Filed Nov. 8, 1951 INVENTOR RUDOLPH ASHERLOWSKY AT TO RNEYS HOLDER FOR MILK CARTONS Rudolph A. Sherlowslry, Hales Corners, Wis. Application November 8, 1951, Serial No. 255,367 2 Claims. (Cl. 224-45) This invention appertains to holders for cardboard milk cartons and the like and more particularly to a resilient holder for grasping these cartons so that they can be readily lifted and tilted for pouring.

Quart and half-gallon cardboard milk cartons are difiicult to handle particularly when pouring. This is primarily due to the inherent size and shape of the container and to the additional fact that the usual wax coating makes the container slippery and awkward to handle. This wax coating also tends to mar the table tops and to soil the table cloths.

A primary object of my invention, therefore, is to pro vide a resilient holder which will firmly grip the milk cartons and which is provided with handles to facilitate the easy lifting and tilting of the carton for pouring purposes.

Another object of my invention is to provide a resilient holder having an upper resilient frame and a lower resilient frame, the frames being joined by spaced wooden handles, which when held in the hand can be brought together to tighten the frames about the carton and firmly hold the same in the desired position.

Still another object of my invention is to provide the lower frame with means to receive the bottom of a carton and to hold the same above the level of the top surface of the table.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide my carton holder with a complete upper frame and a complete lower frame, each frame being formed from a single length of heavy gauge resilient wire, the upper frame being square shaped in plan and the lower frame being octangular in plan, with the four corner stretches extending diagonally across and underneath the corners of a carton, the respective ends of the frames being rigidly secured to the respective ends of a pair of spaced parallel wooden handles.

A further object of my invention is to provide a simple, practical and reliable construction that is economical to manufacture, easy to assemble and positive in its operation.

With the above and other objects in view, which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my holder, clearly illustrating the construction of the resilient upper and lower frames;

Figure 2 is a perspective side elevational view partly in section and showing my holder in the proper position about a milk carton;

Figure 3 is a top plan view partly in section illustrating in particular the top frame portion, the section being taken on the line 33 of Figure 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a top plan view partly in section, illustrating in particular how certain stretches of the lower frame extend under the carton to support the same above the sur- States Patent face of the table, the section being taken on the line 44 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter A generally indicates one type of my improved holder which includes broadly an upper wire frame 10, a lower wire frame 11, and a pair of wooden handles 12 and 13 which are rigidly secured to the respective end terminals of the upper and lower frames 10 and 11.

The upper wire frame 10 is square shaped and corresponds to the cross sectional configuration of a milk carton. As shown, the end terminals 14 and 15 of the upper wire frame 10 are rigidly afiixed to the upper ends of the wooden handles 12 and 13. While it is obvious that the end terminals 14 and 15 may be afiixed to the handles 12 and 13 in any desired manner, in the preferred embodiment I extend the respective ends through transverse apertures 16 formed in the upper ends of each handle, and then I extend the end terminals 14, 15 into suitable central recesses 17 formed in the top surface of the handles.

The lower wire frame 11 is also formed from a single stretch of heavy gauge wire, the ends 18 and 19 of which are similarly secured to the lower ends of the wooden handles 12 and 13. The lower wire frame 11 is octagonal in shape and includes four lower corner stretches 20 which extend diagonally across and underneath the corners of a carton C as clearly shown in Figures 2 and 4 of the drawings. These stretches 20, in effect, form legs which hold the bottom 21 of the carton C well above the surface of the table. If desired the lower wire frame 11 may also be formed square shaped in plan with the four sides extending diagonally across and under the carton corners.

While the carton per se forms no part of the present invention, it should be noted that this carton C is of the standard type now on the market and includes a pouring aperture 22 which is sealed and closed by a hinged cover tab 23. The carton itself is sealed or closed by merely folding over the upper edge 24 in the prescribed manner.

In the preferred form, the lower frame 11 is also provided with upright stretches 25 which are arranged be tween the diagonal stretches 20 and engage the sides 26 of the carton C. Due to the inherent resiliency of the upper and the lower wire frames 10 and 131, the handles 12 and 13 are normally spaced apart at 27, the reason for which will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In using my holder the ,carton C is merely slipped through the upper wire frame it into and between the upright side stretches 25 of the lower wire frame 11 with the carton bottom 21 resting upon the diagonal stretches 20. As previously brought out, these lower stretches 20 space the carton C from the table top. When it is desired to pour milk from the cmton, the hinged cover tab 23 is opened (Figure 2) and the handles 12 and 13 are drawn together into contact with one another. This tightens the resilient frames 10 and 11 about the carton to firmly grip the same. The holder can now be conveniently raised with the carton for handling and pouring the contents therefrom.

From the foregoing, it is believed that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will, of course, be under stood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing form the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A resilient holder for cardboard cartons and the like comprising an upper resilient frame formed from a single length of heavy gauge wire, a lower resilient frame formed from a single length of heavy gauge wire, said upper frame being square shaped in plan and said lower frame being octangular in plan, said upper and lower frames each having a pair of aligned parallel radially extending end terminals, said lower frame including diagonal stretches extending across and under the carton bottom and vertical stretches extending upwardly along the sides of the carton providing side support braces, and a pair of spaced vertically extending parallel handles, each handle having its upper end rigidly secured to one end terminal of the upper frame and having its lower end rigidly secured to one end terminal of the lower frame.

2. A holder for paperboard and similar containers comprising, a length of wire bent to provide a base support portion adapted to extend beneath the bottom of the container and to support the container upright upon a plane surface, container side wall positioning portions spaced from one another around the perimiter of an area above and adjacent to said base support portion for limiting lateral movements of a container bottom relative to said base support portion, spaced container side wall clamping portions spaced above said base support and wallpositioning portions and extending in a plane transverse to the vertical axis of a container supported upon said base sup port portion for movement into clamping engagement with the container side walls from opposed directions, and a pair of hand-grip portions extending in adjacent spaced relation to one another from said base support portion upwardly to said side wall clamping portions, said hand-grip portions being connected to said base support portion at their lower end parts and being connected independently of one another to said side wall clamping portions at their upper end parts and resiliently movable toward one another thereat when gripped by the hand of a user thereby to move said clamping portions toward one another thereby to grip side wall parts of a container disposed therebetween.

Reterencs Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 679,742 Goddard Aug. 6, 1901 1,684,995 Kennard Sept. 18, 1928 1,720,517 Joire July 9, 1929 2,049,219 Muschinske et a1 --July 28, 1936 2,063,805 Goetting Dec. 8, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 571,553 France Feb. 4, 1924 

